Information for Faculty

Online Tools

MyPortal Class Roster E-mail Distribution List

If you only need to distribute your course syllabus and an occasional document file to your students, the class roster e-mail distribution system in MyPortal may suffice as your online communication tool for your class.

Along with the Educational Technology Services (ETS)-supported MyPortal Faculty tools, faculty have other tools available for communicating with students.

Other Online Communication Tools: What's Best for Your Class?

Remember, you have several options for communicating with students online at De Anza. The tool you use may depend on the type of class you are teaching, such as online education, hybrid or a traditional classroom setting.

My Courses / Course Studio Links Students to Your Tool

A "My Courses/Course Studio" link is available inside MyPortal, on the respective Faculty and Student tabs.

The My Courses List provides a way for faculty to link students to their chosen tool. If you chose to do nothing, students will see a default page that says this feature is not active.

Learn how to change the My Courses links and/or activate Course Studio for a class. See the information at the My Courses/ Course Studio link inside MyPortal on the faculty tab or visit the Course Studio resources page.

Password-Protected Options

If you distribute information files often and prefer that students retrieve the information as needed, De Anza offers three password-protected options.

TOOL

DESCRIPTION

COURSE STUDIO

Course Studio is a Yahoo group-like tool inside MyPortal. A members-based group for each of your classes is available each quarter, automatically created through the MyPortal Banner system. Faculty and students use their existing MyPortal login and password to access the application.

Upload Word, PDF, and Powerpoint documents

Create announcements

Share links and photos

Provide your email to students

Create discussion boards

Grant group leader roles to your teaching assistant

How to Get There:Log in to MyPortal, find My Courses / Course Studio on the Faculty tab, and download a Quick Start guide from there to get started. NOTE: You will need to activate the Course Studio application for each class by clicking on the edit button next to the Course Title. Select Luminis Platform and then save. Go back to your MyCourses list and click on the Course Title that you activated. You should see the Course Studio shell that you just activated.

CATALYST

Catalyst is a course management system designed for online education and also supports hybrid and web-enhanced courses. Students will use their own unique login and password to access the system.

Public Faculty Websites

Department Faculty and Staff Listings

De Anza's Instructional Division and Department websites include lists of faculty contact information. Please check with your department chair about being added to this list if you are new or if your information is missing or incorrect.

Faculty Personal Websites

Historically different tools have been made available to faculty for creating public personal websites, which are used for providing information about classes and posting documents for students. Public faculty websites are listed from the De Anza Faculty Website.

CURRENT TOOLS and RECOMMENDATION

Most recently, we've provided De Anza instructors with a faculty website template and an OmniUpdate account for managing their own public Website. Previous to that, De Anza faculty used the district-supported Manila tool.

MyPortal Course Studio

The De Anza Web Team recommends the use of this new MyPortal tool if you want an easy to use Web-based application for posting documents throughout an academic quarter. Course Studio requires minimal set up and offers tools that OmniUpdate does not, such as a discussion board.

Faculty Profile Web Page

If you want a public website that provides your faculty profile and your course syllabi, please contact the Web Team at webteam@deanza.edu. We are in the process of creating a way to set up a simple Faculty Profile page that does not require an OmniUpdate account, which are currently limited in number.